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Keith Hunter Jesperson
Keith Hunter Jesperson a.k.a. "The Happy Face Killer" is a Canadian serial killer and rapist. Background Born in Chilliwack, British Columbia. His father and grandfather were two extremely violent individuals who would frequently abuse their families. He moved to Selah, Washington and because of his large size, he had trouble with making friends and was bullied by his classmates and his own brothers. Like many serial killers, he showed signs of psychopathy at early age by capturing various animals, torturing and strangling them to death. The desire to hurt other people manifested in two attempted murders, the first when he attacked his friend, Martin, brutally beating him, and the second when he attempted to drown a boy at a public school. He also claimed that he was raped at age of 14. Although he was not succesful with girls, he managed to enter into a relationship after high school. He married a woman named Rose Hucke and together they had three children, he later became a truck driver to support his family. Years after marrying Hucke, she started to suspect that Jesperson was betraying her when strange women would call to her house. The couple eventually divorced in 1990, this event devastated Jesperson. His dream was to work as a Royal Canadian Mounted Police but he unfortunately suffered an injury during training and his dream was destroyed. He then began to work as an interstate truck driver and took advantage of his job to start serial killing. Murders, Arrest and Incarceration His first known victim was a woman named Taunja Bennett, he invited her to his house and after an argument, she was strangled to death with a rope and later disposed of the body, her body was found days later but the case went unsolved until a woman named Laverne Pavliac claimed that she and her boyfriend, John Sosnovske, were responsible for her death. They were arrested and as result, Jesperson wrote a confession on the bathroom wall of a truck stop and signed it with a happy face and subsequently wrote letters to media outlets and police departments, all signed with a happy face. Following this, he was dubbed "The Happy Face Killer" by journalist Phil Stanford. Two and a half years later, he made his next victim, a woman he claimed to be named Claudia, she was raped by him and then strangled. A month later the body of Cynthia Lyn Rose was found, who he claimed to be a prostitute. His next victim was another possible prostitute, Laurie Ann Pentland, her body was found in November of that year. More than six months later he murdered another woman, he claimed that her name was Carla or Cindy. A year later, he murdered a woman he claimed to be named Susanne. In the next year later, he agreed to give a young woman named Angela Surbrize, a lift from Spokane, Washington to Indiana. During the trip, they got into a fight and in response, Jesperson raped and strangled her, before strapping her her to the undercarriage of his truck and dragged her, face down, "to grind off her face and prints." Her body was found only father Jesperson was arrested. Two months later, Jesperson murdered his girlfriend, Julie Ann Winningham because he claimed that she was interested in his money and in a fit of rage, she was later strangled by him. Unfortunately for him, he quickly became the prime suspect in her death and was arrested on March 30, 1995 for her murder. He tried to commit suicide twice but failed and subsequently confessed for the murders, he also had sent a confession letter to her brother a week before his arrest. In prison, he claimed to have killed more than 160 people, though this was never confirmed. He was convicted for all the murders he had commited in California, Florida, Nebraska, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming. He is now serving three life sentences at the Oregon State Penitentiary. In 2009, he was indicted for murder in Riverside County and was extradicted to California to face charges. Modus Operandi Most of Jesperson's victims were prostitutes and transients who were lured by Jesperson into his truck, where he would sometimes rape them before strangling them to death, manually or with some sort of ligature. His first known victim, Taunja Bennett, was strangled with a rope in his home. Known Victims * Unspecified date in 1965-1966: Martin * Unspecified dates: ** Unnamed victim ** Unnamed victim ** Unnamed boy *1990: * January 23, Portland, Oregon: Taunja Bennett, 23 * April 12, Mt. Shasta, California: Unnamed women * 1992: ** August 30, Blythe, California : Claudia ** September, Turlock, California: Cynthia Lyn Rose, 32 ** November, Salem, Oregon: Laurie Ann Pentland, 26 * July 1993, Santa Nella, Californi: Carla/Cindy * September 14, 1994, Crestview, Florida: Susanne, 40 * January 1995, Spokane, Washington: Angela Surbrize, 21 * March 10, 1995, Washougal, Washington: Julie Ann Winningham, 41 * Note: Jesperson also claimed to have killed more than 160 people across the United States. On Criminal Minds Jesperson is similiar to serial killer Wade Hatchett. Hatchett picked up a woman and manually strangled her, just like what Jesperson did to most of his victims. Both also were truckers who targeted women and operated in several U.S. states due to their jobs. Sources * Wikipedia's article about Jesperson * Murderpedia's article about Jesperson * Radford University's summary of Jesperson's life Category:Real People Category:Real Life Killers Category:Real Serial Killers Category:Real Life Rapists